*  UNIVERSITY  CiF  ILLINOIS 


i 


s 


No.  4 


PUBLISHED  AND  DISTRIBUTED 


BY  1  HE 


1875, 


- 


Decrease  of  the  Wealth 

OF  MISSISSIPPI 

UNDER  RADICAL  MISRULE. 


lEADQUARTERS  DEMOCRATIC  AND  CON-I 

servative  State  Executive  Com-  > 

M  ITT  EE-  ' 

Jackson,  Miss.,  Oct.  8th,  1875. 

That  the  present  maladministration  has 
n-oduced  the  most  wide  spread  destruction 
)f  the  property  and  wealth  of  the  State, 
md  not  only  prevents  all  progress  and 
improvement,  but  is  surely  and  rapidly 
consuming  all  we  have,  and  all  that  can 
oe  produced  by  the  best  energies  of  our 
people,  is  a  truth  which  we  all  admit  and 
reel ;  hut  it  is  nevertheless  well  to  show 
this  by  actual  figures,  so  that  the  extent 
in<\  steady  progress  of  this  ruin  may  be 
dearly  understood.  Each  individual 
citizen  is  conscious  from  his  own  experi¬ 
ence  that  notwithstanding  his  best  efforts, 
his  greatest  industry  and  his.  most 
parsimonious  retrenchment,  he  is  gradu¬ 
ally  but  surely  approaching  bankruptcy. 
But  he  may  think  that  others  are  more 
favored, — that  the  hard  hand  of  poverty 
ha«  not  reached  others,  whom  he  may 


consider  more  fortunate  than  himself;  for 
this  reason  also,  it  may  be  well  to  look  at 
official  docments. 

[t  is  now  ten  years  since  the  war  ended, 

•j 

and  during  all  that  time,  it  is  safe  to  say, 
that  no  people  ever  worked  with  greater 
zeal  or  energy,  or  lived  closer,  and  with 
fewer  luxuries,  than  the  people  of  Mis¬ 
sissippi  ;  and  the  result  is  that  they 
have  not  only  failed  to  accomplish  any 
improvement  in  their  condition,  or  to 
make  any  progress  or  advance,  but  they 
have,  under  a  merciless  system  of  taxa¬ 
tion,  and  a  most  dishonest,  corrupt,  and 
wasteful  government,  been  growing  poor¬ 
er  and  poorer  every  day.  This  has  been 
the  result  up  to  the  present  time,  and 
during  a  period  when  our  great  sta¬ 
ple,  (cotton)  has  commanded  in  the 
markets  of  the  world,  a  higher  price 
than  ever  before ;  and  the  question 
now  arises  in  every  thoughtful  mind, 
what  are  we  to  do  in  the  future,  when 
cotton  has  declined  to  its  ante  helium 
price,  and  is  every  day  getting  lower  ? 
There  must  be  relief,  or  there  is  certain 

ruin.  Disguise  it  as  we  may,  the  people 


? 


Of  7 


U?  ‘ 


7 


Campaign  Document . 


of  Mississippi  are  poorer  after  all  these 
ten  years  of  self-denial  and  hard  labor 
than  they  were  before.  They  are  also 

on  the  verge  of  universal  bankruptcy  and 
ruin. 

This  has  been  brought  about  by  Rad¬ 
ical  misrule,  and  all  our  lost  wealth  has 
been  consumed  in  taxes,  which  are  levied 
to  pamper  and  fatten  a  worthless  horde 
of  adventurers,  who  have  no  interest  in, 
or  sympathy  with,  the  fortunes  of  the 
people  of  the  State. 

The  people  of  Mississippi  are  not 
drones  nor  idlers.  They  have  shown 
their  capacity  to  produce  wealth,  and 

to  improve  their  fortunes;  they  have 
been  energetic  and  economical;  thev 
have  worked  hard  early  and  late;  they 
havehac  no  luxuries,  barely  the  comforts 
of  hfe;  they  possess  a  salubrious  clime, 
a  fertile  soil,  and  have  been  eno-acrPt]  ja 
raising  the  most  profitable  crops.  In  the 
woild.  Yet  the  result  is  ruin. 

Ret  us  look  at  the  figures  : 

In  1850,  the  total  population  of  the 
btate  was  006,526,  and  the  total  value 
of  the  property  of  the  State  was  #228,. 
Jo  1,130,  or  $37/  per  head.  In  1860 
the  total  population  of  the  State  was 

DC  °;5’  and  the total  wealth  $509  472  - 
9  2.  I, ,  1866,  the  total  wealth  4  the 
State  was  $161,151,207,  and  the  total 
population  about  the  same  in  I860 
and  the  valuation  of  the  property  per 
head  was  a  little  over  $200,00.  In  1875 

the  tota!  wealth  is  $119,123, 008-about 

$lbb  per  bead. 

,.  This  shows  a  large  increase  in  popula¬ 
tion  between  1850  and  1860,  but  a  still ! 
larger  increase  in  wealth;  the  increase 
m  population  being  184,879,  or  about  13 
per  cent,  for  the  ten  years;  the  increase 
m  wealth  being  $280,521,782,  or  over 

in  7  valuatio:‘  of  property 

!  16  rate  of  4644  to  each 


I860  to  1870,  lour  years  of  which  were 
war,  and  six  years  peace,  the  increase  in 
population  was  only  36,617— the  nonn 
Jation  m  1870  being  827,922;  but  still 
there  was  an  increase.  The  total  wealth 


of  the  State  in  1870,.  as  shown  by  the 
census  of  that  year  was  $209,197,345, 

beiUYn7noo  rW7th  in  that  decade  of 
over  $300,000,000,  or  about  60"per  cent. 

lhese  estimates  are  based  on  census  re-T 
turns,  not  on  assessments. 

But  as  the  object  of  this  paper  is  to 
rhow  what  we  have  lost  by  Radical  mis- 
government,  it  will  be  as  well  to  com¬ 
mence  on  a  new  basis  of  valuation,  just 
aiier  the  war  ended,  and  when  its  rava¬ 
ges  had  ceased,  making  no  other  use  of 
the  ante  helium  statistics  than  to  show  the 
rate  at  which  our  people  created  wealth 
in  time  of  peace,  under  a  fair  and  just 
government.  This  rate  of  increase,  as 
is  above  shown,  was  over  12  per  cent  per 
annum.  1 

There  is  no  civilized  people,  certainly 
there  is  no  part  of  the  United  States, 
not  cursed  by  carpet-bag  rule,  that  does 
not  increase  their  wealth  yearly.  The 

iTrnw  i“Missis8iPPi  between  1850  and 
I8bUo*  U  percent,  per  annum  is  not 
exceptionally  high,  but  is  below  the  aver- 
?§®-  , increase  in  Indiana  between 

looO  and  1860  was  16  per  cent;  between 
UbOand  18/0  it  was  14  percent,  per 
annum.11!  Yew  Jersey,  between  1850 
and  1860,  it  was  19  4  5  per  cent.;  a 
I  year, -between  1860  and  1870,  it  was 
.  per  cent.  In  Massachusetts,  between 
18o0  and  1860,  it  Was  4}  per  cent.;  be¬ 
tween  I860  and  1870,  it  was  10 
per  cent  a  year.  In  Tennessee,  be¬ 
tween  18 5.0  and  1860,  it  was  14  per 
cent  per  annum  ;  and  between  1860  and 
1S/0  there  was  even  then  a  small  in- 
cre,as1e-  AIn  Connecticut,  between  1850 
and  I860,  the  annual  increase  was  19 
per  cent.  ;  between  1860  and  1870  it 
was  7  3-5  per  cent.  In  Illinois  the  ’an¬ 
nual  increase,  between  1850  and  1860 
was  50  per  cent.;  between  1860  and  1870 

77  0  W  Iu  Ge°rgi«.  between 
18o0  and  1860,  it  was  9  percent,  per 

annum.  In  New  York,  between  1850  and  i 

1  fro  ' C  'rofo-ng  °ent'  ea°b  year;  between 
1860  and  1870  it  was  54  per  cent,  a  year. 

In  Alabama,  oetween  1850  and  1860  it 
was  about  11  per  cent.  In  the  whole  of 
,  ^  111  ad  States,  the  increase  in  wealth, 

between  1850  and  1860,  was  over  13  per 
cent,  per  annum  ;  between  1860  and 


3 


A  2.  97  Campaign  Document 


1870,  notwithstanding  the  great  losses 
sustained  by  the  Southern  States  from 
the  war,  it  was  nearly  9  per  cent.  So  it 
appears  that  the  property  in  Mississippi, 
under  good  government,  increased  be- 
tween  1850  and  1860,  in  about  the  same 
ratio,  as  the  average  of  the  whole  Union. 

But  to  remove  all  cavil,  we  will  say, 
that  the  increase  would,  under  a  fair 
government  in  time  of  peace,  be  10  per 
cent,  per  annum,  and  make  our  calcula¬ 
tion  accordingly. 

Commencing,  as  before  stated,  on  the 
basis  of  the  assessment  of  1866,  the  year 
after  the  war  closed,  we  will  see  how  the* 
case  stands.  Have  we  lost  or  gained  by 
these  nine  years  of  labor  and  toil  ?  In 
1866,  the  land  assessment,  excluding 
school  land,  amounted  to  8115, 321, 299. 
There  was  no  assessment  of  all  personal- 
tv  till  1870,  and  none  accessible  to  me 
till  1871.  Though  the  years  subsequent 
to  1871  show  a  steady  decrease  in  the 
value  of  personalty,  I  will  assume  there 
was  no  decrease  before  that  time,  and 
that  the  personalty  in  1866  was  worth  as 
much  as  it  was  in  1871,  viz  :  $45,829,908. 
This  added  to  the  realty,  makes  $161,- 
151,207,  as  the  total  wealth  of  the  State 
in  1866. 

In  1871  the,  total  assessment  of  realty 
and  personalty  was  $150,000,000,  show¬ 
ing  a  loss  in  live  years  of  $11,151,207, 
or  about  $2,000,000  for  each  year. 
These  were  years  of  peace,  and  the  price 
of  cotton,  during  this  entire  period,  was 
double  its  ante  helium  value,  when  our 
increase  of  wealth  was  twelve  per  cent  per 
annum.  There  is  no  reason,  but  bad 
government,  and  high  taxes,  why  this 
increase  should  not  have  been  kept  up. 
But  put  the  increase  at  10  per  cent.,  and 
the  wealth  of  the  State  should  have 
been  in  1871,  $241,726,807,  instead  of 
what  it  was,  viz:  $150,000,000;  showing 
a  loss,  by  bad  government,  of  $91,726,- 
807,  in  five  years,  or  over  $18,000,000  a 
year. 

The  assessment  of  realty  in  1871,  was 
$104,136,291,  and  there  was  no  new  as¬ 
sessment  till  1875,  and  so  we  cannot  show7 
the  annual  decrease  in  the  value  of  real¬ 
ty,  but  w7e  can  take  the  four  years  together. 

Tne  assessment  rolls  for  the  year  1875 
have  not  all  been  returned  ;  but  we  have 


the  rolls  of  fifty  counties,  situated  in  all 
parts  of  the  State,  and  the  returns  from 
these  counties  show  a  decrease  of  18  per 
cent,  in  the  land  assessment  for  four 
years.  The  same  rate  of  decrease  in  the 
land  assessment  in  the  remaining  coun¬ 
ties  w’ould  make  the  land  assessment 
amount  this  year  (1875)  to  $85,401,759, 
or  a  loss  in  four  years  of  $18,734,759. 
Add  to  this  the  loss  in  land  assessment 
between  1866  and  1871,  as  follows: 

Assessment  of  1806 . $115,321,299 

Assessment  of  1871.  .  104,136,291 

$  1L1 85,008 

makes  a  total  loss  in  land  value  of  $29,- 
919,540  in  four  years. 

The  loss  in  value  of  personalty  is  still 
more  marked,  and  as  the  assessment  was 
made  each  year  after  1871,  we  can  show 
the  annual  decrease,  and  that  it  was 
steady  and  never  varying  : 

Assessment  of  personalty,  1871 .. $45,829,908 
Assessment  of  personalty,  1872.  .  45,224,410 

Loss  in  one  year . .  605,468 

Personalty  assessment  of  1873  .  44,710,345 

Loss  as  compared  with  1872.  ...  514,095 

Personalty  assessment  of  1874.  . .  44,3S3,222 
Loss  as  compared  with  1873 .  327,123 

In  1875,  w7e  have  assessment  rolls  of 
personalty  for  forty-four  counties,  show¬ 
ing  a  total  loss  in  these  counties  of 
$6,838,565,  or  24  per  cent.,  making 
assessments  in  all  about  $33,721,249. 
Loss'  in  one  year  $10,661,973,  or  a 
total  loss  in  four  years  of  $12,108,659  ; 
over  one-fourth  of  our  personal  wTealth  in 
four  years. 

Add  now  the  total  loss  of  land  and 


personalty  together  : 

Land.. . $29,919,540 

Personalty .  12,108,659 


Making  grand  total . $42,028,199 


But  this  is  not  the  real  loss,  great  as  it 
is.  We  have  lost  all  we  have  made  in 
these  nine  years,  in  addition.  This,  a 
before  shown,  would  ha ye  been  undern- 
good  government,  12  per  cent,  per  an¬ 
num,  but  we  will  put  it  at  10  per  cent., 
so  as  to  be  perfectly  safe.  This,  as 
wealth  would  be  as  follows  : 

Land  assessment  in  1866,  $115,321.- 
299. 

Personal  assessment  m  I860,  asau raed 


4  '  Campaign 

to  be  as  great  as  in  1871, — $45,829,908. 

Total  wealth  in  1866— $161,151,207. 

Add  90  per  cent.,  or  10  per  cent,  for 
each  of  nine  years,  for  increase,  and  we 
have  $145,036,086,  for  the  increase — 
making  what  our  wealth  should  be  in  1875 
$306,187,293.  Instead  of  this  it  is  only 
as  follows  : 

Land  assessment  in  1875— $85,401,- 
759. 

Personalty— $33,721,249. 

Total— $119,123,008. 

Which  deducted  from  what  it  should 
be,  as  shown  above,  leaves  $187,069,- 
285,  representing  the  cost  in  money  to 
the  people  of  the  State,  of  Radical  mis¬ 
rule,  besides  the  enormous  taxation 
which  we  have  paid. 

The  ten  years  which  have  elapsed 
since  the  war,  though  in  time  of  profound 
peace,  have  been  more  devastating  to 
the  people  than  war.  The  United  States, 
as  a  whole,  increased  their  wealth  nine 
per  cent,  annually,  during  the  last  de¬ 
cade,  yet  we  have  constantly  retrograded. 

France  recovered  aliheiUost  wealth  in 
five  years,  after  the  most  devastating  of 
all  wars.  We,  at  the  end  of  ten  years, 
are  as  if  war  had  never  ceased. 

Lord  Macaulay,  (History  of  England, 
V°l.  F  Chap.  3,)  in  contemplating  and 
commenting  on  the  improved  condition 
of  England  after  long  years  of  misrule 
and  intestine  commotions,  makes  use  of 
the  following  language : 

“  In  every  experimental  science*  there 
is  a  tendency  toward  perfection.  In  ev¬ 
ery  human  being  there  is  a  wish  to  ame¬ 
liorate  his  own  condition.  These  two 
principles  have  often  sufficed,  even  when 
counteracted  by  great  public  calamities, 
and  by  bad  institutions,  to  carry  civiliza¬ 
tion  rapidly  forward.  Ho  ordinary  mis¬ 
fortune,  no  ordinary  misgovernment, 
will  do  so  much  to  make  a  nation  wretch¬ 
ed,  as  the  constant  progress  of  physical 
knowledge,  and  the  constant  effort  of 
every  man  to  better  his  condition,  will 
do  to  make  a  nation  prosperous.  It  has 
often  been  found  that  profuse  expendi¬ 
ture,  heavy  taxation,  absurd  commercial 
restrictions,  corrupt  tribunals,  disastrous 
wars,  seditions,  persecutions,  conflagra¬ 
tions  and  inundations,  have  not  been 
able  to  destroy  capital  as  fast  as  the  exer- 


Document. 


tions  of  private  citizens  have  been  able 
to  create  it.” 

He  further  says  that  the  national 
wealth  of  England,  “in  spite  of  battles, 
sieges,  and  confiscations,  was  greater  on 
the  day  of  the  Restoration,  than  on  the 
day  when  the  Long  Parliament  met ;  that 
in  spite  of  maladministration,  of  ex¬ 
travagance,  of  public  bankruptcy,  of 
two  costly  and  unsuccessful  wars,  of 
pestilence  and  fire,  it  was  greater  on  the 
day  of  the  death  of  Charles  the  Second, 
than  on  the  day  of  his  Restoration.”  This 
is  the  great  lesson  taught  by  history. — 
constant  progress  in  wealth  and  civiliza¬ 
tion  over  all  ordinary  obstacles.  Eng¬ 
land  and  all  other  States  have  triumphed 
over  all  obstacles  in  their  march  to 
wealth.  Mississippi,  in  time  of  profound 
,  peace,  without  battles,  sieges,  confisca¬ 
tions,  {.without  conflagrations,  inunda¬ 
tions,  pestilence  or  fire,  and  with  only 
maladministration  and  wasteful  extrava¬ 
gance,  has  been  constantly  retrograding. 

But  a  still  more  marked  evidence  of 
our  decay  will  be  found  in  the  number 
of  acres  of  land  forfeited  for  taxes.  In 
1866  the  value  of  land  forfeited  for  taxes 
was  $607,632,  being  about  one-half  of 
one  per  cent,  on  the  value  of  land  in  the 
State.  In  1875  the  number  of  acres 
forfeited  is  about  6,500,000,  or  over  27 
per  cent,  of  the  value  of  all  the  land  in 
the  State.  In  6,500,000  acres  there  is  a 
little  over  10,000  square  miles,  more 
than  one-fifth  of  the  total  area  of  the 
State,  or  about  fourteen  average  coun¬ 
ties. 

We  have  become  so  used  here  to  see 
evidences  of  decay  and  destruction  of 
wealth,  that  we  do  not  readilv  take  in 
the  full  import  of  these  enormous  figures. 

The  land  forfeited  in  Mississippi  for 
taxes,  and  which  was  once  private  pro¬ 
perty,  constitutes  a  larger  area,  by  two 
thousand  square  miles,  than  the  States 
of  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island  and  Dela¬ 
ware  combined ;  larger  than  Massachu¬ 
setts  and  Delaware  combined  ;  larger  by 
near  1,700  square  miles  than  Hew  Jer¬ 
sey  ;  larger  than  Hew  Hampshire,  and 
nearly  as  large  as  Maryland. 

Under  a  good  government  all  these 
lands  would  be  held  by  private  owners, 


Campaign  Document 


5 


and  would  be  supporting  a  thriving 
population. 

This  year  there  will  be  a  large  increase 
in  the  area  of  land  forfeited.  The  taxes 
,  which  ought  to  be  collected  from  these 
lands  must  be  collected  from  the  remain¬ 
der.  Thus  every  year  the  taxes  will  be 
increased,  and  there  will  be  less  and  less 
property  to  pay  them.  Can  we  stand  this  ? 
Is  Mississippi  alone,  of  all  the  United 
States,  to  remain  under  this  bondage  to 
Radical  misrule  and  corruption  ?  We 
have  a  fair  chance  to  relieve  ourselves 
now.  If  we  let  the  opportunity  pass,  an¬ 
other  may  never  come. 

J.  Z.  GEORGE, 
Chairman. 


proper  persons  in  all  cases,  when  lie  may 
be  called  upon  to  act,  and  as  he  must 
necessarily  rely  upon  the  advice  of  others 
as  to  who  shall  be  appointed,  it  will  be- 
|  come  necessary  for  the  Democrats  and 
Conservatives  to  take  such  action  as  will 
secure  the  placing  before  Judge  Hill  of 
!  the  names  of  suitable  persons  to  be  ap- 
!  pointed. 


I  know  of  no  better  way  to  accomplish 
this  end  than  for  the  Chairman  of  the 
Democratic  and  Conservative  Club,  at 
the  county  seat  of  each  county,  to  for¬ 
ward  to  me  at  once  the  names  of  at  least 


- - 

Xiao  AppoisitmeMt  of  Election*  Su¬ 
pervisors. 

Headquarters  Executive  Committee,  'j 
Democratic-Conservative  Party  j 
of  the  State  of  Mississippi. 

Jackson,  Miss.,  Oct.  8,  1875.  J 

To  the  Democrats  and  Conservatives  of 
Mississippi : 

A  recent  notice  from  Judge  R.  A.  Hill, 
tn  reference  to  the  appointment  of  Super¬ 
visors  of  Election,  renders  it  necessary  for 
me  to  give  you  some  instructions  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  that  matter. 

By  an  Act  of  Congress  (Revision  of 
1875,  Title  xxvi),  any  ten  citizens  resid¬ 
ing  in  a  county  in  a  Congressional  Dis¬ 
trict  may  apply  to  the  United  States 
Judge  for  the  appointment  of  supervisors 
of  any  Congressional  election. 


|  two  (2)  intelligent  and  responsible  citi¬ 
zens  of  his  •  county,  for  each  precinct 
therein,  belonging  to  the  Democratic  and 
]  Conservative  party,  from  whom  th  e 
judge  may  select  one  for  each  precinct. 
That  is,  where  there  are  (5)  five  precincts 
in  a  county,  let  the  names  of  at  least  ten 
;  (10)  Conservatives  and  Democrats  be  at 
once  forwarded  to  me,  two  from  each 
precinct,  so  that  (5)  five  of  the  number 
may  be  selected. 

If  the  Chairman  of  the  Democratic 
!  and  Conservative  Committee  can  agree 

i  # 

with  the  Chairman  of  the  Republican 
Committee  upon  the  proper  number  for 
each  county,  one  for  each  party,  for 
each  precinct,  it  would  be  preferable. 
If  that  be  done,  let  the  names  so  agreed 
on  be  forwarded,  indicating  which  party 


I  suppose  that  an  application  will  be  j  each  belongs  to. 


made  to  Judge  Hill  for  the  appointment  j 
of  such  supervisors  in  each  Congressional  j 
District.  The  law  requires  that  two 
supervisors  shall  be  appointed  (when  j 
proper  application  is  made)  at  each  elec-  j 
tion  precinct.  They  are  required  to  be 
of  different  political  parties,  and  able  to 
read  and  write  the  English  language,  j 
and  residents  of  the  county.  I  have  no  j 
doubt  Judge  Hill  desires  ta  appoint' 


In  forwarding  names,  the  precinct  at 
which  each  is  desired  to  be  appointed 
should  be  indicated. 

I  ask  for  prompt  action  m  this  matter, 
and  that  the  names  of  no  one  will  be 
recommended  or  forwarded  who  is  not  in 
every  respect  a  trustworthy  citizen. 

J.  Z.  George, 
Chrm.  D.  and  C.  Ex,  Com. 


6 


Campaign 

CIRCULAR. 


Headquarters  Executive  Committee,  ) 
Democratic-Conservative  Party 
of  the  State  of  Mississippi  ( 
Jackson,  Miss.,  Oct.  8,  1875.  J 

I  have  received  so  many  inquiries  in 
relation  to  naturalization  that  it  is  deem¬ 
ed  best  to  answer  all  in  this  circular. 

xlny  alien  may  be  naturalized  in  the 
following  manner : 

1.  He  shall  have  first  declared  his  in-  j 
tention  to  become  a  citizen,  in  due  form, 
before  a  Circuit  or  District  Court  of  the 
United  States,  or  a  Court  of  re  cord  of  a 
State  liaviug  common  law  jurisdiction. 
If  this  has  been  done  two  years,  the  alien 
may  then  apply  for  naturalization.  If, 
however,  the  alien  was  a  minor  when  he  | 
arrived  in  the  United  States,  and  has 
resided  here  for  three  years  before  his 
majority,  he  may  be  naturalized  without 
having  declared  his  intention  as  afore¬ 
said,  two  years  before  application.  He 
may  make  the  declaration  when  he  is 
naturalized — but  he  still  must  have  re¬ 
sided  before  naturalization,  five  years 
in  the  United  States.  And  any  alien 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age  may  be 
naturalized  who  has  enlisted  in  the  U. 
S.  Army,  and  has  been  honorably  dis¬ 
charged  and  has  been  a  resident  of  the 
United  States  one  year. 

2.  Before  naturalization,  except  in 
case  of  a  discharged  soldier,  the  alien 
must  have  resided  in  the  United  States 
five  years,  and  in  the  State  where  he  is 
naturalized,  one  year. 

3.  The  applicant  for  naturalization  in 
Mississippi,  must  go  before  a  Circuit 
Court  of  the  State  (■ not  the  Chancery ,) 
and  in  term  time  be  naturalized.  He 
need  not  go  to  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
county  where  he  resides,  but  to  any 
Circuit  Court  in  the  State. 

4.  When  he  goes  to  the  Court  to  be 
naturalized,  he  must  show  to  the  Court: 

1st — That  he  has  declared  his  inten¬ 
tion  to  become  a  citizen  at  least  two  years 
before  (except  in  cases  of  minors  and 
discharged  soldiers,  as  before  explained). 
This  can  be  done  by  producing  the  cer¬ 
tificate  given  at  the  time  by  the  officer 
before  whom  the  declaration  was  made. 


Document. 


and  if  it  has  been  lost,  he  can  prove  by  his 
own  oath  its  loss,  or  destruction. 

2d — He  must  show  to  the  Court* that 
he  has  resided  in  the  United  States  at 
least  five  vears,  and  in  the  State  one 
year,  and  that  during  that  time  he  has 
behaved  as  a  man  of  good  moral  charac¬ 
ter,  attached  to  the  principles  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and 
well  disposed  to  the  good  order  and  hap¬ 
piness  of  the  same. 

But  in  no  case  can  the  residence  re¬ 
quired  be  proven  by  the  oath  of  the  ap¬ 
plicant. 

3d — The  children  of  aliens  who  have 
been  duly  naturalized  are  citizens,  by  the 
act  of  naturalizing  the  father  ;  and  if  an 
alien  has  declared  his  intention  to  become 
!  a  citizen,  and  has  died  before  naturaliza- 
i  tion,  his  widow  and  children  may  become 
citizens  by  taking  the  naturalizing  oath. 

The  oath  required  for  naturalization  is 
as  follows  : 

“  1  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  I  absolutely  and  entirely  re¬ 
nounce  and  abjure  all  allegiance  to  every 
foreign  prince,  potentate,  state  or  sover¬ 
eignty,  and  particularly  to - ,  (Prince 

or  King,  or  Empress  of - ,  naming 

the  country  of  which  the  applicant  is  a 
native),  of  whom  I  was  before  a  subject.” 

When  all  this  is  done,  the  proceedings 
should  be  entered  on  the  record,  and  the 
Court  should  enter  up  a  judgment,  de¬ 
claring  that  the  applicant  is  thereby, 
having  complied  with  the  law,  admitted 
to  the  rights  and  privileges  and  immuni¬ 
ties  of  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  adjudged  and  declared  to  be  a  citizen 
of  the  same.  J.  Z.  George. 


The  election  day  is  approaching  rap¬ 
idly.  You  have  no  time  to  lose.  Let 
every  Democrat  do  his  whole  duty  from 
now  until  the  electian. 


If  there  is  a  Democrat  who  is  not 
doing  his  duty,  let  him  reflect  upon  the 
infamies  and  oppressions  that  will  come 
to  us  all  from  two  more  vears  of  Radical 
rule. 


Camp aig n  Document . 


7 


e  Radical  IParty. — Sts  3<3xlrava- 
g'asuce  and  Violated  Pledges. 


:  clarion.] 


The  Convention  of  August,  1873, 
which  nominated  Ames  for  Governor, 
promised  to  reform  the  abuses  which  it 
had  practiced,  and  registered  a  solemn 
pledge  to  “retrench  expendtiures”  and 
practice  “rigid  economy.”  We  can  best 
see  how  that  pledge  has  been  redeemed, 
b}7  refering  to  the  official  reports  : 


[document  b  ] 

Disbursements  for  fiscal  year  1874,  from 
tile  1st  day  of  January,  1874  to  the  31st 
day  or  December,  1874,  inclusive  by  war¬ 
rant. 

Legislative . $133,519  91 


Judiciary . .  300  854  10 

Executive  . . .  .  .  54.909  50 

Appropriations . 15,376  03 

State  Library  . .  3,447  03 

Commissions  for  assessing .  29.388  13 

Penitentiary  .  162,712  84 

Public  printing, .  75,23S  36 

Capitol  expenses . .  600  00 

Capitol  repairs. .. .  .  3.600  00 

University  of  Mississippi  .  50.000  00 

Recording  tax  titles .  .  .  22  75 

Common  School  Fund .  20,266  62 

Lunatic  Asylum...  . 93.750  00 

Executive  contingent  Fund  ...  10.262  53 

Auditor’s  Contingent  Fund.  ...  2,763  56 

Chickasaw  School  Fund  interest-  77,120  02 
Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum  .......  15.000  00 


Institution  for  the  Blind  .......  10,000  ()0 

Alcorn  University . .  50,000  00 

Comissioner  of  Immigration  and 

Agriculture  .  ...  9  533  32 

Expense  and  postage .  .  .  1,410  99 

To  the  foregoing  are  added  in  the 
report  a  series  of  other  items,  the  whole 
aggregating  the  enormous  sum  of  one 

MILLION  THREE  HUNDRED  AND  NINE 
TEEN  THOUSAND  TWO  HUNDRED  AND 
EIGHTEEN  DOLLARS. 

i 

By  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  | 
for  1874,  the  expenditures  on  account  of  l 
the  Legislative  department  were  133,- 
513  91. — Now  compare  this  item  with 
the  expenses  of  the  Legislature  on  for¬ 
mer  years : 


1850  (when  an  extra  session  was 

held) . $63,510 

1854 .  43,135 

1857 .  32,760 

1861  (when  and  extra  session  was 
held) . .  56. 901 


An  average  of  $50,000.  But  these  ses¬ 
sions  were  held  biennially.  Therefore  the 
annual  average  was  $25,000  agaiust 
$132,000  under  Radical  rule.  The  reader 
will  he  curious  to  know  how  all  this 
money,  on  account  of  the  Legislative 
department  in  1874,  was  made  way  with. 
Here  are  the  items  as  set  forth  in  the 
-official  report  above  quoted  : 

Statement  of  Expenditures  on  account  Leg- 
islative  Department  for  year  1874. 

Per  diem  of  members 

of  Legislature . $85,056  00 

M  i  i  cage  o f  memb  i  rs  o f 
Legislature.  .  .  .  .  17,512  60 

- $102,568  60 

Per  diem  of  clerks.  .  .  .$13,847  00 
Perdiem  of  postmasters  628  00 
Per  diem  of  sergeant- 
at-arms  and  assist’s. .  1,709  00 

Perdiem  of  door  keep¬ 
ers  .  ..  1,202  00 

Per  diem  of  pag*es  ....  2,484  00 
Pe r  d iem  o f  m esse n ge rs  756  00 

Per  diem  of  porters...  2.712  00 
Per  diem  of  elo-et- 
keepers  ...  .  546  00 

- -  23,844  00 


Jackson  Gas  Light 
Company,  for  gas, 
coal  and  light- wood  . 

APPROPRIATIONS. 

Geo.  B.  Pease,  sergeant 
at-arms  of  the  House 
of  Representatives, 
tor  contingentexpen- 
ses,  Act  approved 

March  19,  1874  . 

W.  B  Redmond,  ser- 
gea  1 1 1-  a t- a  r m  s  o  f  t h e 
Senate, for  con!  ingen t 
expenses,  a  p  p  roved 

March  30.  1874 . 

W.  Q.  Low’d,  sergeant- 
at-arms,  Senate,  spe¬ 
cial  session  1873,  for 
contingent  expenses, 
approved  April  6,1874 
L.  Tuttle,  jr., sergeant- 
at-arms.  House  Rep¬ 
resentatives,  special 
session  1873,  for  con¬ 
tingent  ex  penses.  Act 
approved  Novem her 


$126,412  60 
1,056  98 


3,000  00 


2.274  56 


470  77 


1,  1873 .  277  00 

Sli ackel ford  i  n  vest! gat- 
in"  committee. ... ...  2S  00 

o 

o  050  33 

Total .  $133,519  91 

It  is  said  that  the- corruption  at  Wash¬ 
ington  is  so  reeking  that  “the  man  in 
the  moon  holds  his  nose  when  he  goes  over 
it.”  A  similar  effect  is  produced  by 
looking  over  the  above  items.  “  Per 
diem  of  closet  keepers”  for  the  menage- j 
rie  $546,00  for  example.  ! 

Under  honest  rule  the  whole  clerical 

« 

service  of  the  Legislature  was  performed 
for  $2,800 — $1,600  for  the  Clerk  of  the 
House,  and  $1,200  for  the  Secretary  of 
the  Senate.  Now  the  cost  of  this  service 
is  $13,847.  Until  Radical  rule  began 
the  whole  cost  of  sergeants-at-arms,  door¬ 
keepers,  pages,  etc. ,  was  $600  per  ses¬ 
sion.  Now  it  is  $8,000 — to  say  nothing 
of  the  sweet  smelling  item  above  men¬ 
tioned.  » 

For  the  Judiciary  department  in  1874, 

$300,855  were  expended.  Now  com¬ 
pare  this  with  a  series  of  years  prior  to 
the  war  : 


1851 .  74  446 

1855  .  .  .  99^527 

1857 . 114,984 


The  highest  expenditure  for  the  judi¬ 
ciary  department  during  any  year  under 
citizens’  rule  was  in  1859,  and  then  the 
amount  was  only  $147,105.  The  con¬ 
trast  in  the  cost  of  the  Executive  Depart¬ 
ment,  is  still  more  striking — as  follows  : 

852 . $  8,853 

854 .  8,008 

858 .  11,226 

And  from ’65  to  May' *66  (after!  he 
war) . . .  ....  10,000 

Under  the  first  year  of  Arnes,  the 

expenditures  on  account  of  the  Executive 
Department  as  seen  above,  amounted  to 
$54,999.  These  are  but  examples  of  the 
wholesale  system  of  public  plundering 
which  has  been  carried  on  under  the 
regime  of  the  carpet-bagger  ;  and  their 
contrast  with  the  rule  of  honesty  and 
economy. 


j 

\ 


Pardoned  Com 
Tote  oi 


ISe 


Judge  E.  S.  Fisher  has  rec 
ded  this  question  in  a  case  where  a  negro 
in  DeSoto  county  was  refused  registry 


because  he  had  been  convicted  for  grand 
larceny,  although  pardoned  before  the 
cud  of  his  sentence.  He  applied  for  a 
writ  of  mandamus  before  Judge  Fisher. 
Regarding  the  Judge’s  opinion’,  the  Her¬ 
nando  Press  and  Times  says  : 

“Judge  Fisher  delivered  an  oral,  opin¬ 
ion,  in  which,  after  reciting  the  provisions 
of  the  constitution,  and  of  the  several 
statutes  on  the  subject,  by  the  terms  of 
which  disfranchisement  is  made  the  con¬ 
sequence  of  conviction  of  a  penitentiary 
offence,  he  considered  the  effect  of  a 
pardon  in  restoring  eligibility.  He  held 
that  while  at  common  law  a  pardon  ope¬ 
rated  as  a  complete  defence,  and  a 
restoration  of  the  convict  to  all  his 
common  law  rights,  yet  that  it  could  not 
have  the  effect  of  giving  to  a  party  a 
right  expressly  denied  to  him  by  statute. 
That  the  statutes  of  the  States  having 
expressly  declared  that  no  convicted  per¬ 
son  could  register,  it  was  not  within  the 
power  of  the  Governor  to  render  this 
statute  nugatory  by  the  exercise  of  the 
pardoning  power.  In  other  words,  that 
the  absence  of  conviction  was  one  of  the 
essential  qualifications  of  an  elector  in 
this  State,  which  could  not  be  supplied 
by  any  act  of  the  Executive. 

This  important  decision  settles  the 
question  of  the  right  to  vote  of  quite  a 
number  of  active  Radical  politicians  in 
this  county.  A 


- - 

There  is  no  help  but  that  we  find 
within  ourselves.  We  can  get  our  rights 

if  we  put  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel.  Let 
the  men  of  Mississippi  do  their  duty. 
Every  man  is  expected  to  stand  to  his 
post.  Indifference,  lukewarmness,  half¬ 
heartedness  constitute  no  force  and  pro¬ 
duce  no  fruits.  Be  active,  vigilant,  un¬ 
faltering,  in  this  crisis  of  the  battle. 
Take  no  step  backward.  The  prize  is 
within  reach.  Onward  ! 


